Four out of the seven individuals accused of stealing from former Sanitation Minister, Cecilia Abena Dapaah, have submitted a plea-bargaining request to the Attorney General.
In court on Tuesday, March 11, 2025, the lawyer for the four — Patience Botwe, a hairdresser; Sarah Agyei, unemployed; Benjamin Sowah, a plumber; and Malik Dauda, unemployed — informed the court that they had filed an application for a plea bargain. Yahaya Sumaila, an excavator operator, is also among the applicants.
However, the prosecution noted that they had not yet been served with the application.
Presiding judge, Marie Louise Simmons, directed the defense lawyers to serve the prosecution with the necessary documents.
Meanwhile, lawyers for the fifth and sixth accused persons, Christiana Achab and Job Pomary, prayed the court to discharge their clients after Cecilia Dapaah, during cross-examination, indicated that she did not know them.
During her testimony, Cecilia Abena Dapaah told the court that, aside from the monies stolen, the accused persons also took jewelry worth several thousands of dollars.
“I realized that a substantial number of my valuable clothes (sewn and unsewn), kente cloths, dresses, skirt suits, blouses, handbags, lace fabrics, and perfumes were all missing. We also found out that huge sums of money had been stolen from our storeroom. This included an amount of $210,000, which belonged to my deceased brother, Nana Akwasi Essan II, alias Charles Dapaah.
“The $210,000 was part of an amount of $800,000 that my elder brother, Henry Osei Kwabena, brought to me upon the instructions of our mother for safekeeping, after Nana Akwasi Essan II’s demise.”
Other sums allegedly stolen from the storeroom include:
- $200,000 belonging to Dorcas Wiredua, a client and relative of her husband.
- £300,000 belonging to her husband.
- GHC300,000, being contributions made by her siblings and herself towards the final funeral rites of their late mother, Nana Ode Nyarko II.
- GHC50,000, her personal money.
The former minister further disclosed that jewelry valued at $95,000 was also stolen.
She detailed the jewelry as follows:
- Eleven (11) sets of earrings and pendants costing $3,000 USD each, totaling $33,000 USD.
- Four gold bangles costing $3,500 USD each, totaling $14,000 USD.
- Fifteen (15) gold earring sets purchased at $1,000 USD each, totaling $15,000 USD.
- Diamond set earrings, pendants, and bangle bought for $9,500 USD.
Twelve (12) chains costing $2,000 USD each, totaling $24,000 USD.
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